The Dale Jr. Download - What Makes Atlanta’s Racing So Damn Good Right Now

Episode Date: July 1, 2025

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back behind the mic for another episode of Dirty Air. He joins his co-host, TJ Majors, remotely to catch up after the electrifying race at Atlanta over the weekend:Transitioning from Prime to TNTAtlanta just needed to be repaved, not reconfiguredClassifying Atlanta’s racing styleLifting in the corners makes for great racingAtlanta regular season finale?Being selfish wins racesRace winner Chase Elliott calls in to the showDuring the Ask Jr. portion of the episode, listeners sent in questions regarding:Days of Thunder 2’s potential storylineMaking a cameo in Days of Thunder 2Driving Dwight Howard and Malik Nabers around the track on Sunday  Consumer Cellular: New customers get a $5 credit on first five monthly invoices. Visit https://savings.consumercellular.com/DJD for details.Arby’s: Arby’s Cheesesteak is Here! Use code DALE to redeem $0 Delivery on any order in the Arby’s app.FanDuel: Must be 21+ and present in select states (for Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino) or 18+ and present in D.C. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets which expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut, or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call [phone] for 24/7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY in New York. Dirty Mo Media is launching a new e-commerce merch line! They’ve got some awesome Dale Jr. Download merch on the site. Visit shop.dirtymomedia.com to check out all the new stuffYouTube: And for more content check out our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey everybody, it's Dale Jr. for another episode of the Dirty Air. Dale Jr. download with my co-host, T.J. Majors. We got Chase Elliott calling in today. We're going to talk about Atlanta and the bracket and all the fun stuff going on in the sport. And it should be a lot of fun. We've got Dirty Mo Doe, As Jr. Let's get to it. The following is a production of Dirty Mo Media. I'm still sour, man, that I wasn't your best man at your wet. When will you start mentally, like, getting ready for the race? Can you not tell I'm mentally ready? I just have some dumb ideas, but I agree with them on this one. You don't sound like you know what you're talking about. You haven't scratched the surface yet. I mean, what the fuck do you won't? I just think the last few laps, it was just like stop every time.

You're picky. This ain't walking in and have it your way, motherfucker. All right? This ain't Burger King. Travis is like, fucking wrap us up. They all have no fun around here. Hey, everybody. It's Dale Jr. back again for another episode of the Dale Jr.

download and we're doing this show remotely. But we got our co-host back, T.J. Majors. And he's also remote. How you do, TJ? I'm good. Pretty good. I missed you last week. Well, Gateway was a fun test. Yeah.

So, glad to be back. Good to have everybody back together. I've been looking forward to doing this show. It feels like it's been a while. I don't know why. going into I guess last week felt extremely long because we were, I was transforming from the Amazon 5-ray schedule to the TNT five-ary schedule starting in Atlanta. I was excited, but at the same time, you know, hadn't never worked with most of the people

that are going to be on this TNT production. And as we said many times, with the Amazon five-ray schedule, there was kind of like a top layer of Amazon people, and then underneath that in the actual bulk of the cake, where a lot of familiar faces from NBC. So that's why that's, you know, that's why that, That's kind of why that worked as well as it did in such a short span. When I worked with NBC, we had 20 races, and we would spend half of that time working out little kinks

and never really feel like we were doing our best work, or at least I felt like I wasn't doing my best work till later toward the end of the year. We got five races here to get this right, so pretty smart for Amazon to bring in some of the, that experience than NBC has. The weather threw us some curveballs and we had this stage that we were going to use behind pit wall. We didn't get to use. We had to rush our pre-raced team up to a booth that we weren't planning on using. And it just, I hated it because it just didn't give us a chance to get off on the right foot.

We had a plan that I thought was going to be great and we didn't get to utilize a as we had prepared and expected. With all that said, I feel like that we've got some really great ingredients. We got all the right people in terms of talent to have a great show. And I was really happy with how the race was cut. I really am happy also with the temperament and approach of the producer. So I think we're going to make a giant leap forward. I was pretty pleased by the end of the day

with what we did as a broadcast team and I was obviously the race itself was incredible no matter where that race was broadcast it was a great race but I feel like that you know I've talked to a lot of people in the past 24 hours with our TNT team and I expect there's a there will be a

big chunk of a big leap forward, I think, in how we do the job and how well we do it. Anyways, I was glad to get one in the books for T&T. I'm ready to go on to Chicago. With all that said, let's look back on Atlanta just a little bit. There's an interesting sort of, and I don't think this is a big deal. Listen, old Atlanta versus new Atlanta. I think that judging just kind of by surface level peaks into social media and things like that, I feel like that 80% or more like New Atlanta.

Old Atlanta worn out was a blast as a driver. You loved it. You moved all over the racetrack. It was fun as hell. Cars sliding all over the place. But those races were hard to watch as a viewer. and there ain't no denying it. The crowd was suffering.

We weren't selling any tickets. And Marcus Smith, who owns that racetrack, was in a spiral if he didn't make a change. There wasn't much opportunity or any kind of neat idea or anything that was really going to bring that interest back to Atlanta without a big shift and a big change. the reconfiguration was done, a lot of pushback from drivers. Oh, no, don't. We love it. Of course we did. I loved it. I loved old Atlanta. But they needed to do something to get some new energy

and have people go, hmm, let me take another look at this. I hadn't been, I hadn't really paid Atlanta much attention or I hadn't really, I don't rank Atlanta very high on my list. Let me take another look. And it's produced the best, most exciting show. that we have currently. Now that could change in the next year or two. Something else might be awesome. Or Atlanta might sort of revert back to its own self. I think that's happening, actually.

But there's this sort of, you know, post-race, there's this sort of conversation, I think, happening of, you know, people just will, some people will see that race Sunday and have a problem with it, which, you know, or say that it's not the kind of product or kind of race that they want to see, or they don't like what they saw all the cars crashing and have to feel getting knocked out and that kind of stuff. So, you know, I feel like that people have to, you know, people have to understand. I had to think about it like this too.

Like I want Atlanta to survive. Not only do I want the track itself to work and function. NASCAR. But I want the area around the track to develop. You know, when you look at the success of some of these racetracks, you know, you can kind of check out the property and see. Kansas? Yep.

Kansas is a good one. Casinos, hotels. There's a potential project of big development that I believe is. already on paper and ready to go for Atlanta if the race can return to its sort of peak, you know, peak demand and peak audience. We had a really good crowd this past race. Probably they said the best crowd in the last 10 years. Those are good signs.

I think NASCAR, I think that's kind of a NASCAR thing where crowds are getting better everywhere, but that's a good sign for the future of Atlanta. So the configuration was necessary, and the product that it puts on the racetrack is drawing a lot of interest to sort of unlock this process of development and excitement just around the property to really bring all of that up, right, and make the race even more of a great experience.

imagine like when you go to a race if you're camping or you're tailgating outside and you want to run down to the arby's or something but it's 20 minutes away right if you want to go grab you a breakfast sandwich or or something for lunch or you know you forgot something or you want to add something to your tailgate uh the development like the development right around or in near proximity of the racetrack makes that's uh easier process and a better experience, I think, for the wikender. Honestly, though, I'll say this. They did not have to change the banking or the width of the track to have this kind of racing, this kind of race we're seeing right now

at Atlanta. They probably don't know that and they probably don't really care at this point. But if you had repaved the old Atlanta and put this package on the racetrack, we would probably see the exact same race. The racing at Atlanta is unique to itself.

We've let sort of this younger demographic of race fans, people your age, Travis, come in to the sport, right, and welcome you in, right? You're a new fan, you've been a fan for how many years now, and there's a lot of other younger fans coming in. And y'all come in, and this is something I've got to get used to as an old head, y'all change some of the language. You know, you'll name things different.

Like, a long time ago, restrictor plates came into the sport, and we called those tracks where they ran them, restrictor plate tracks. But Atlanta got reconfigured, and we started seeing a similar style of racing there, and it's not a, they don't have restrictive plates anymore. They have, you know, carburetor spacers and different things. and different ways to limit the horsepower.

We didn't know what to call Atlanta because it's not a restrict plate track. They don't really, those parts and pieces aren't around anymore. So we call them drafting tracks, which I hate, but it is what it is. I don't get to choose. But we don't really see the same type of racing at Daytona and Talladega that we see at Atlanta.

Atlanta is its own thing. And it has a little bit to do with the shape of the track and how short it is. It has the dog leg. All those things produce a unique style of racing. We see nowhere else. See, that's why I think calling it a drafting track is a disservice because people then group it with those and it's not the same racing. So, like, you shouldn't, we need to not do that because I think it's maybe hurting what

people's perception is. I would say just one day, and it's happened just recently, when they reconfigured Atlanta, somebody decided, what are we going to call this? What are we drafting tracks? It's just really low-hanging fruit, lazy way to sort of describe these three tracks together. And so, unfortunately, for Dayton and Talladega, we no longer will. reference them as restricted plate tracks. That'll go away over time.

But it's just a little gripe that I have because the problem is you're, you know, Austin Hill's winning a lot of races at Atlanta. He's winning races at Daytona, Talladega. He should be celebrated for that. This is not a knock on Austin Hill. But now they have lumped in the stats that me and dad had from Daytona and Talladega into the stats at Atlanta of the new configuration of Atlanta, and they're compiling this sort of statistical, you know, scoreboard, if you will.

And at one point, Atlanta's going back to this old, worn-out, non-drafting style of racing. At some point, it will. That surface, and it's going to happen in the next two, three, four years. You're going to go off in the corner, and you're not going to be able to be that close in proximity of the car behind you because of the lack of grip you're going to have to really get further away from each other really run in different lanes and it's going to be more similar to what we see at kansas and other places they're going to change their stat book then what are they going to do what are they going to do they're going to just decide at some point

some random race well it doesn't look like drafting anymore so are you know what should never have been included. I agree. Should it never even been included? Never. And so they need to, they just need a way to be able to give you statistics

about this driver is good at these style of tracks where you know, the racing is similar. And, you know, but without really altering the scoreboard, if you will.

So, um, Austin Hill is a hell of a race car driver and damn good at Daytona Talladegh in Atlanta. But yeah, I'm conflicted on what have we, you know, we've added this Atlanta race into that restrictor plate track sort of scoreboarded now eventually it's coming back out.

It's not a statistic that is, you know, who decides when that happens? That's not a governing body decision. And so like what stats will go into the, you know, the drafting track. pile in which stats won't. That's decided by some stat guy, I suppose, or some network executive in a production meeting, you know, in just general conversation.

Well, should we not call it that anymore? All right, we got enough, we got enough votes in the room. Okay, we won't call it that anymore this week. And going forward, that's going to be the way it goes. So, anyhow, I've kind of got off on a rant here. but the, you know, the way, I was a little surprised at the racing we saw at Atlanta was still somewhat similar to, you know, the style of racing we used to see at Daytona, Talladega, but I think it's shifting further and further way, less and less grip, more and more abrasive of a surface,

which I think we'll still have awesome racing there. I think even as the surface gets worn, it'll still be captivating and wild and fun. But, you know, the reason why we don't see what I would say next is, why don't we see what we see all at Atlanta, this awesome race that we all loved, so many passes for the lead, just freaking lap after lap after lap, new leader. Why don't we see that at Talladega and Daytona? Or how come we don't see that boring we see at Daytona and Talladega at Atlanta? Like, how are they, since they are apparently the same style of racing,

how come at Atlanta we get what we want at Daytona, Talladega? Well, it's, I mean, I know the answer to that. Well, what's your answer? They lift. They have to lift for the corner. At Atlanta? Yeah, I mean, everyone started that race, screaming loose. They were lifting.

You can see him back in and into the corner and having handling issues going up the track, couple guys brushed the wall. We don't see guys brush the wall at Atlanta, you know, or Talladega. Daytona, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I just think there's a lot of handling issues. Like, there was a point where we were debating two tires and, you know, Bolins really wanted to do it. And Brad was out of me. He's like, no, I want four.

I'm getting four. This is getting, like, he, because he's in the seat. And if he's, if you got drivers begging for four tires because they know the feeling, they feel, you know, when they're driving, that's characteristic of a good you know they're having handling issues so that makes it more exciting more dicey like you saw guys that couldn't hold the bottom you saw guys that um you know obviously struggled on the top as well but that's why you see those gaps in the middle of the corner form you know and stuff like that and then the runs for them on the straightaways is he having up to clear him i mean it's just it's fun i mean it's it's exciting racing

but those drivers had their hands full man like you know i remember brad telling me he could barely turn the wheel down to somebody if they got inside of it. It was hard for him to cut the wheel because he's loose. So he said that during the race. Yeah. And, you know, hard to do. So what about it is from the track is making them have to lift and have that? Is it what's on the track surface or what is it the dimensions?

I just think it's the radius of the corners. There are tighter corners than Talladegan, you know, obviously. So you have to. At Atlanta. You can't make it wide open. There are tighter corners at Atlanta. You misspoke. Start using your head, TJ.

My bad. Get them all confused. You're going to fuse a shit at everybody. You know, it is that. It is the fact that the tighter radius corner at Atlanta creates some balance issues or challenges amongst the way the car is fuel and drive. And the other thing, too, is fuel. Like, for some reason, you know, the team's race at Daytona and Talladega

to minimize the time it takes them to put fuel in the way. the car. You don't have the balance issues that TJ's talking about, so we don't have to, we don't feel like it's absolutely necessary to change tires every time the caution comes out because we're not screaming to get new tires at Daytona and Talladega. There's no real bad handling issues that aren't, you know, there, there is some spots you can get your car in that are bad. That's all arrow. The next lap you'll go through there. and be fine because the tire is not even anywhere near wearing out. But even if you did need tires, it still takes so long to fuel the car.

Fueling takes far longer than changing the four tires. So fueling is the liability. So if fueling is a liability to winning, you have to limit how much fueling you do toward the end of the race so that your guy's on pit road the least amount in that final stop so that then you can be up toward the front. And so you race the race by packing the fuel into the car early. And so when you leave pit road, you don't need to come back down. Or you can leave pit road sooner than the other guy who has to add the fuel or add more fuel at the end of the race.

So, you know, that's how they run Daytona, Talladega. They've science it out. Props to the teams and crew chiefs and engineers and everybody for understanding the best way to get the best result in those two races. And so I still think that we need to look at ways to change or eliminate that strategy at Daytona and Talladega. I think the teams will be fine with it, but they have no choice but to use what is best to win the world.

race. But I think if you could eliminate the fuel mileage racing at Dayton and Talladega, that teams would totally embrace that. And I don't know there's a million ways to do that. We were still working on fuel at Atlanta, but the amount of natural cautions and the amount of handling issues, drivers make their teams are making different decisions. So you have a lot more variables in there as well. For sure. Yeah, I mean, if that race played out to where the teams felt like it could go caution-free, absolutely, they're starting to think about how to be the one that is in the best situation fuel-wise.

But there was, and when that, if that ever gets, if Atlanta ever does sort of morph into this race where the big crashes are less common. and we're having longer green flag runs, then yes, teams are going to start going on. Yeah. We were there when at first, we were already there when we first started racing there.

Yeah. And then we've getting, to me, we're getting further away from it because of the handling, because of the track, you know, because of the tires wearing out more

and handling issues, becoming more of an issue. We're getting further away from the natural, okay, we got to run, we're going to put under green here. Somebody was arguing on social media that we should,

should not race it to Daytona Teletale twice a year because of the product on the racetrack, in my opinion to that would be we make a lot of mistakes by leaving racetracks because the racing isn't good and

that is the wrong approach. You should make the racing better not leave the track. Especially those locations. Them two tracks right there are quite unique and and very historic.

So I would propose actually making the racing so good that you're glad you go there twice a year, not stop going to the racetrack because the product isn't good. It's not the racetrack's fault. And I would say the same thing about Richmond. You know, there was also a conversation on social media about the schedule and how it's obviously

in flux right now and a lot of rumors around where we may go next year. We've talked about it on this show. San Diego is a street course. There's, you know, is absolutely on the table. Where does, where do we go back to Mexico? Where would it be on the schedule? Is there, is the race up in Canada and Montreal still a possibility? do we you know there we likely don't go back to Chicago as a street course and does that mean we

go back to Chicago land could you go back to Chicago land I know that Josevar was goofing around over there the other day taking pictures and had everybody thinking even me that maybe NASCAR had him over there for a purpose but I think he honestly was just curious So with that all said, do you take Atlanta and put it as the last race of the regular season? I know that, you know, I don't think that means you take Daytona and put it where Atlanta is. We've already went through this where the city of Daytona. So the Daytona race was the July 4th event. once it was moved away

the city of Daytona went man we like this we don't need it to go back to that we don't need it to go back to the way it was ever again because now we have two holidays we have July 4th when we get a lot of people because it's July 4th then we have the race later where a lot of people come into town we don't need them on the same date

so the city loves how things are now so I don't know that you moved Daytona back to July around the fourth, but could Daytona just move to another part of the year? I think absolutely it could. And having Atlanta is the final race of the regular season, to me, sounds like a no-brainer. What do you think? I don't know.

Why? Man, Atlanta, oh, gosh, man, that is a – I mean – Between Dayton or Atlanta, what would you pick? Why would you pick Daytona? Because Atlanta, at least you can, at least you got a chance to really, I mean, yeah, I like Atlanta because you got a chance to get away from others a little bit. And you can kind of control your own destiny a little bit more at Atlanta, even though I know the end of the race ended up with teammates helping each other. But it wasn't like, I don't know, it's still, it's still really hard for me because if you look at some of the Atlanta races before, like if that big wreck doesn't happen, And, you know, do those Penske cars control the top three lanes or top two lines like they did, you know, before?

Let me ask you this too, T.J. That's a great point. So if Atlanta is the final race of the regular season, are drivers, do drivers race differently? The drivers race scared? Do they, did we not get the action that we've gotten in Atlanta? No, honestly, I feel like, I feel like you're going to have, they're going to race. There's going to be a. little bit more give and take because nobody wants to be the guy that takes out a championship guy. I don't think you ever want to be that guy. But also, man, Atlanta opens the door for a lot of guys to have good runs and put themselves in position. You see, Zane Smith was running up front. You're taking big runs that he would get. I thought Ty Dillon, you know, Travis's enemy there, had a really good solid start. He was running up in the top 10, almost all race. You know, there's guys

that the you know that can run up front more at Atlanta still but you know the like it always happens though the cream kind of rises the top at the end of the races there in but I do if I had to pick one I think Atlanta is doable I just like the handling issue like you have a chance to get your car better yeah to get away from other cars so and you have the excitement of the draft with a big run still but you know let me ask you this though if this race and say, you know, when Brad got the lead with four or five to go, nobody could get a run on him. If Alex Bowman doesn't show up and there's no change for the lead at the end of that race because they start racing for second, which happens at plate races a lot. The guy gets out front,

second and third get to race and side by side. Nobody can get through. Is this race nearly as exciting if Chase Elliott doesn't get pushed to the lead, you know, at the end? Is it, if Brad leads the last five laps and there's no lead change, is it exciting still? No, but I don't see that happening in Atlanta. What's the odds of it? that. It ain't new. It ain't going to happen. I mean, two guys could have easily got side by side to meet into that race and

race each other. Yeah. I mean, I just haven't. I'm not seeing the logic because the races at Atlanta have either been three wide across the finish line or absolutely having a pass on the last lap. I mean, until you give me a race at Atlanta where I see a car not get challenged with three laps to go. Well, but you sat in the beginning of this show and said the racetrack's changing.

Yeah, it's not there yet. I said two or three, four years. You're not going to be able to have three wide at the line. There's no way. I don't think you could have had a three wide finish on Saturday night. The way those cars were handling and the way they needed a racetrack. I agree with you. So I think it's going to keep trending that direction.

I agree with you. But, I mean, it ain't there yet. You could put it. I'm just saying for next year, would you put it there at the final race of the year or the final race of the regular season? I think you could do it. I would definitely take it for next year. Yeah, and I think to your point, as it evolves, it doesn't need to stay there. Because, yes, the racing is going to continue to change,

and the gaps between the cars are going to get bigger because of the handling. But that's still another minimum two years, probably four years down the road. I was told when I mentioned to Steve LaTart, man, this place has changed. We started the race, and I was like, Steve, we might be in for a little different of a show. It ended up being just what we expected. But at first I was like, I wonder if this thing is a little slicker than we think. We started hearing about all the drivers complaining about the balance.

And I'm like, I was picking up on that. And I'm like, dude, this thing might be a little different than what everybody's expecting. So let's be ready for that. But then, you know, toward the end of the stage, you know, they got all on top of each other and could race just fine without really having big problems balance-wise. And it was not a problem, no issue, right? But you could start to see some of the old Atlanta kind of creeping back in. But I still, and I said to Steve, I was like, man, this place is going to really be back to its old self pretty soon.

And he said, no, they've got a lot of downforce still to put back into these cars. So he said they've got a there there's still a long way they can go to get comfort in the car and get them keep them tight and pack racy before old old Atlanta comes back, right? I don't think I don't think they're as far away as what he says they are. I don't. I think everybody I think a lot more going for handling. It's been going that way and these teams are usually pretty up on that stuff. I think people are using more downforce than what Steve thinks. trimmed out. I don't think so anyway. I don't think they're as trimmed out as you could be. And I do see

old, a little bit of old Atlanta coming a little bit here. I mean, we'll never be out of the throttle like we used to be at the old Atlanta. But the way they have to drive the cars and these drivers are getting smarter and figuring it out, where the runs, like we're managing the gaps differently in your mirror because you're trying to prevent the run on the straightaway the next lap. So you might, you know, you're just managing stuff differently as these races go on. The drive. are learning and adjusting as the race goes. Hey, TJ, I like that phone. Is it new?

Yeah, I got this awesome new phone. I've recently joined the Consumer Cellular family, and they hooked me up with a great phone and a great service. You're telling me that your phone actually works at the racetracks? Yeah, my phone has been excellent at the racetracks, and honestly, you can't beat the Consumer Cellular Service and the offers they have going right now. I mean, that's cool, but I'm assuming that it's probably kind of expensive, right?

Yeah, that's funny. Consumer Cellular is a steal of a deal. I don't know why more people have not made this switch. Nationwide service, fraction of the price, the 2 for 60 plan, no long-term contract. I mean, it's awesome. All right, I'm in. So how do I get this deal? They basically have an elite pit crew on standby waiting for you to call and make the switch.

It's 100% U.S.-based customer service. Takes around 20 minutes, and it'll be one of the best decisions you ever make. And now it couldn't be a better time to switch to consumer cellular and get $25 off with code DJD-25. That's DJD-25 for $25 for $25 for $25 when you switch your consumer cellular. Go to consumer cellular.com slash DJD and use promo code DJD-25.

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That's promo code DJD-25 at Lionelracing.com. So Reddick had an opportunity, had a big run down the front straightaway and chose to bounce off the back bumper Brackzlowski, who was leading. I really feel like Reddick gets out of the car and says, man, I didn't make good decisions.

I have to believe that that's the one he's talking about where if you have a run, especially in this race with the way this car is, you have to take it. He thought, I'm going to assume that he thought, oh, I'm in the right spot being behind Brad. Well, he is in the right spot being behind Brad if it's the very last lap. But he thought, man, I'm going to stay right here and hold this position. That's unrealistic because the next guy's coming. by the next you know everybody that got runs is taking them no one's going to be idle and let reddick sort of wait for his turn you know wait for this last lap to happen so where he can make his final move

um he's coming down the front straightway and he and he and i'm like i'm getting ready to call it redick to the inside and he run in the back of him and i was like oh no yeah he messed up see I don't I don't think you messed up I don't think he had enough I don't think he had enough to clear through one and two if that was turn three I think he could have taken it but he didn't have somebody Chase got to him too late on the straightaway

to give him enough of a run to clear into one Chase when Chase made his passes into one he had immediate help off of four and on the white flag lap Chase had was getting pushed three quarters away down the straightaway Chase got to the back of Reddick right at the flag center after

And Chase has to let him go as soon as they come out of the second dog leg to get down to the corner. And I don't think, I just don't think Tyler, if that was turn three, I think he can do it. Because you can wash the guy up easier in three and four. In turn one, I don't think what you mean. I still think he has to take the run. You got to try it, right? Well, if he doesn't, he doesn't take the run. And then he bounced off the back bumper of Brad.

His car has lost all the momentum. he's now vulnerable to everyone behind him, which he was gobbled up, and someone else drove around him and went up and won the race. So does he pass and clear? Maybe, maybe not. But he has to take the run. You have to.

And, you know, he can run Brad up the racetrack, side draft is best down the back straightway. He hoped to get saved if he's not clear, and he's stuck on the inside, hope that he gets saved down the back straightaway or is still in a position into turn three to be battling up front. I know it's not a given, T.J. that the past clears and he's going to go and win the race. But I think that he has a better chance at winning the race by taking that run instead of just deciding. I think I'll just push Brad and stay in second. Chase Elliott,

with a lot of help from his teammate Bowman, was able to get the win. Big win for Chase in Georgia. Got a tweet from Atlanta Braves of congratulations. That's a big deal. You know, that had to make Chase feel pretty good. The pool hall rang the siren. Now, the pool hall will tell you that it's a sireen. Now, I want to be educated on this because I would always have called it the siren.

Like, yeah, you know, you rang, you know, the siren at the, at the fire department or whatever, right? Or the siren of the police car, whatever, right, it's a siren. What's, what is the actual proper, I never even heard of a sireen? Where does that even come from? But they're adamant that you call it a sireen. but either way the um you know

I think uh you know Alex Bowman uh Steve pointed this out at the end of the race Alex had a real shot it went in the race but it got put he got taken three wide by Chase Elliott down the front straight um chase took over look that Chase took every run even against his teammates and I'm imagine if Alex took a run at Chase on 50th there

he should have uh we never got the opportunity to you. No, he didn't. So this is the thing, man. When the racing at Atlanta was, I think I would be good at that because you can get away with being selfish and not get in trouble, not get, you know, nobody cussing at you at you at the end of the race. Your owner's not mad at you, your other, you know, the other crew chiefs and other other teammates aren't mad at you because to be good at Atlanta and the way the style of the racing, you have to be selfish. You have to make it about you. You have to take every run, even against your teammates. You have to do everything you can to be that leading teammate. Because if it comes down to it and we're on the last lap,

and the 48th's in front of the 9, then the 9 is kind of in a position where he kind of has to help the 48. Same way that 17 of Chris Busher was in that sort of the same spot with Brad late in the race. He's like, you know, if it's not Brad Kosalowski in front of him, he's probably not helping him. He's probably taking some of these runs to go around him, but he's sitting there going, well, I can't do this to my teammate owner. And so, you know, it's a tough spot to be in.

I think Alex, you know, Chase is like, you know, I like Alex, but yeah, I'm going to go win this damn race. And that's what he thought since the green flag dropped, and you could see him. He took Alex three wide more than once in that race. So let me ask you this. What's Alex's best chance to win that race on the white flag lap, in your opinion? he doesn't have one what's the best like if something were to happen what can he do to maybe create a

situation that he can win the race chase is pushed clear and i guess if disregard the fact that chases his teammate i think his best shot would have been able to maybe push the nine up there and get them get those guys side by side i'm sorry the six so he could push brad up there and maybe they get, you know, the Brad and the nine get side by side and choke each other down because they're going to side have to shit out of each other. Oh, they're going to race into three hard. Oh, yeah. You don't know what's going to happen there.

Yep. And that's the 48th chance. But like, okay, if you're talking about these drivers being selfish, if that's Alex's best chance, why doesn't he be selfish? I mean, Chase was selfish when he passed him? He wasn't. He's not selfish. I mean, to me, I mean, I get why he did it.

But, like, to me, if I want to win that race, I'm going to shove the, car in front of me and try to make try to get that put it come and try to create a bad situation in front of me so Alex sacrifice his Alex pretty much sacrificed all his chances of winning the race off a two when he pulled out to pass that's right so but I just I don't know if Alice gets the same I don't know if Alex gets the same treatment you're you're probably right um I don't know if he does either but Alex also is in a tough spot he is yeah uh career-wise. He needs, you know, he, if he had won four races this year, maybe he does that.

He pushes that six forward and says, that's my best shot. I'm going to give you another win. But he's got to, you know, he's got to go, he's got to think about, all right, what kind of a position am I in long term? So what boosts Alex up the charts? Does a win boost Alex up the chart? or pushing a teammate to a win up the chart? What's more important for Alex? I think you've got to ask yourself which one's more probable.

The chance that I push this six into a situation where he battles the nine and I win, that's a high-risk shot. Yeah. I think it's probably 80 to 90% chance that Bragg clears chase with a push him Alex. Yeah. But there's also that one out of ten that they get together and Alex wins the race. Yeah, but it was a 100% chance. that he would get the adder boy for helping chase win the race that's that's your thing is right now does

ad boy get you a contract okay but rick hendricks how rick hendricks views alice bellman how we view him is probably different and he's going i've got a driver here that does what i need for my franchise the sponsors love him he does everything the right way i'm going to treat him a little different than like me as an owner i'm going i want you to go win but i'm not rick hendrick not at the risk of hurting us both. Yeah. If he pushes the six to victory, oh, boy. I know.

He's basically, he's basically chiseled his name on the tombstone. I, you know, so I can't blame Alex for being the way he was at the end of that race. And honestly, man, if I'm his owner, I'd say, look, you did the right thing. I know you want to win races, but in that scenario, I want you to help us win. And he did. And so he did the right thing. I think that it's just such a tough spot to be in because Chase can be Chase. Chase can go out there and be selfish and do what he wants for himself and he should.

Alex isn't really afforded that same leeway because he's not won enough races or a championship for a little bit unfair. They've won the same amount of races, honestly, kind of in the last couple of years. But Chase is most popular driver. and also the champion. And he's got long-term equity built up in that team. Alex does too. Yeah. Alex is a good teammate.

Yeah. But it's no different than Busher and Brad in that one scenario, you know, late in the race, where Busher was kind of like crap. I don't want to be in this spot, but here I am, so I kind of got to help Brad. And that's not doing him. You go back. We go back Daytona. Brad pushed Chris to victory at Daytona a few couple years ago.

I hear you. And what Chris did? in that moment is absolutely part of why Brad was in position to win the race late. But where was Chris at? That's just a kind of tough part about this style of racing. That's why I was like, hey, man, at the end of the race, you've got to be the lead teammate. You got to be Brad or Chase. You can't be Alex or Chris.

You got to find, like if you're Alex and Chris and it's 10 to go, you should be looking around going, how in the hell? do I get in front of the six or the nine? Because that's my only shot to win, because I need to be in front of those guys so that they're forced to be the teammate that's me. And that was the way it was at DEI, man. We'd be running those races,

and, you know, the 15 would be leading at some points or I would be leading at some points, but we kind of both knew, like, when we get inside a 20 to go, I don't want to be pushing him, because that means I'm probably got to stay committed to it. So I got a question. If Chase, if the winner is not Chase and the winner is, whoever pick any got any other car out there,

did the fans get robbed of a, of a finish, you know, maybe a better finish they deserved into three? No, I don't think so. Because if it's any other car than Bowman behind the six, he pushes him and there's, we're all, we have this high pressure moment into three.

Who's going to do what? Are they going to make it out? We never got that opportunity. Both are great races. I'm not going to complain in a world. It was a good race. Yeah. I still think it gets a 90%er from Jeff Gluck either way.

I mean, it was definitely. Are you trying to say that the good race poll was influenced by the winner? No, never. Yeah, why would it ever do that? Y'all really? Yes. It's absolutely influenced by the winner. Go see when Denny wins.

It's less than if Chase wins. Well, that's natural. Yeah, I mean, it's Denny. But that's what I'm saying, though. It goes both ways. Well, yeah, I mean, Chase or, I would say if Chase wins, I could put 12 other drivers in Winter Circle and the pole would be the same. No.

Absolutely not. No way. Man, Chase, I've heard that the gaps closed a little bit. on what and like where Chase is and where other drivers are he had it won in 44 races

I don't know like it's been a lot yeah a little bit but dude you hear the crowd when they listen to driver introes I mean good Lord

the place goes crazy well that's George that's his home track TJ and hence why it's over 90% too no you think that was all Atlanta people voting

I think it had I think it has a lot to do with it I don't think it's that big of an influence as you think. I think Chase Elliott's name on anything's a big influence. Not like it was six years ago.

It was six years ago. It was a good race, but I do think the poll is aided by who wins the race. Yeah. Like, didn't they just come out with a thing? It says Larson's sold more souvenirs this year. Or he's like number one.

He's number one on the list. They put out a list of souvenir sales. and I think Dad's 8th and I'm 9th and Justin Allgaier's 7th. It was funny. NASCAR put themselves at number one because they basically claim

to be on every piece of, every item sold. So they're like, well, we're number one because we're on every item. Chase was two. So like, and Kyle's won,

Chase is two on the, okay? It's not like he's 10th. So all of that says is that if Kyle Larson wins the race, it's going to be a high percentage poll that way as well. You think so?

I think if Joey Lugano wins that rates, it's probably low 80s, high 70s. Now, I mean, Joey's not hated, but he's not exactly the most popular guy. I think you put him and Denny in the same bracket. Yes, I would too. But I still say that I could take Chase out of Victor Lane and put 10, 12 other guys in Victor Lane,

and I get a 90%er. I don't know if it's that many. I would not. I would not put Legano and Denny in that 12. No. Of course. I think Chase and, you know, like the higher they are on the souvenir sales, the popular they are, the higher that poll is going to be, in my opinion.

Whether it's 5%, 7%, 10%, I don't know. But I do think it. I would say a Larson or Chase win influences the good race poll by less than 5%. I mean, I really don't know what it. It might be 5, it might be 4, it might be 11. I don't know. but I know it influences it. I think five's a fair number.

Well, that's more than he was willing to admit a few minutes ago because he didn't think he influenced it at all. Five or less. I go five or more. T.J. When you saw that run coming and Brad didn't have a Ford, what's going through your mind there is basically he's done for? I knew Chase's run. When I saw them get together off of, well,

when I saw the 48 clear the 45 and 4, I was like, uh, that's not what we need. Yeah. And they got, that runs unstoppable. I mean, you couldn't stop it. But the best thing you can do at that point is regroup and try to get a run for three. Regroup and get your shit ready for Chicago. That's pretty much it.

Yeah. I mean, whenever I saw Bowman coming up behind Brad, I'm like, yeah, I even told Brad on the radio, he's not going to push you. And like a couple seconds later, I'm like, oh, inside, of course. Like, I think I might even have said something like that. But, I mean, I don't know. When I looked back here and saw the 40, I'm like anybody. But if it would have been Reddick behind us, Reddick would have absolutely show Brad

as good as he could have. And that was our chance right there. But, man, that's just part of how things time out. Sometimes you're leading the race and cautious come out and you get the win. Sometimes they get to racing behind you. And you don't even get a shot at someone passing you. And sometimes they get runs, the timeout just right, and it works out. Let's talk about the bracket.

A lot's been made of this bracket. Travis' favorite driver got knocked out. Yeah. Denny got knocked out. So there are 16 drivers remaining in the bracket. Chase Elliott is the only driver left in the bracket with a win. Yep. All right, let's go through these names.

Dylan Kislauski Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Nimichick, Elliott, Jones, Stenhouse. Gregson, Priest, Hosevar, Reddick, Almondinger, Gibbs, Smith, Busher. Zane. Werders for a

Busher. So, if you looked at the names, yes. See, I came in here with the attitude that the bracket was fine, the races, where the races are was fine,

but I can look at this list of names and the matchups for Chicago and go, okay, maybe Atlanta wasn't the best idea. Well, out of the, First off, forget. Let's not talk about Atlanta just yet. Why is it not a good idea, though?

Well, let's wait. I'm going to let you do this. Oh, you already have to get there. I know. Geez. Hang on to it. Let's start, let's start just with the bracket along, TJ. There's people out there that think the bracket's stupid.

They don't have to follow it. Yeah, but I mean, why would you even, why would you, I don't understand why you could, why you would go, oh, this is dumb. We ain't college basketball. I mean, some people are diehards and they don't like it. We hate fun. We did this.

We created this bracket. Denny Hamlin. Come on, Denny Bros. Yeah, give Danny some credit. Give Danny some credit. Denny Hamlin created this idea and said, man, this will be fun. We'd do something.

And we did it. We put it on a website. All of the people that follow Dirtymoe media, We had like 20,000 people sign up and do it. Good it for two years. It's fun as hell. Yeah. Well, you know what?

NASCAR took the idea, carbon copy, and, well, carbon copy enough that I think Denny ought to be like, hey, man. Yeah. But, I mean, they're already in court. Why not? Just kind of tacked the, tacked that one on to the end. trade your bracket for a charter um so the the bracket's cool i mean if you don't if you're not into it just don't you know just don't even say don't yeah you don't have to follow it yeah just it doesn't change your life just enjoy what you enjoy about racing NASCAR and don't worry about

it but it's fun it's i think it's fun as hell and so like me and and Steve and Adam and the guys in the booth, everybody, we're all genuinely like, yeah, man, I've made the right decision. I picked Busher. Hell, yeah, hell yeah, he's still alive. And he's going up against Zane Smith in Chicago. Man, I feel pretty good about that one. And then I assume he's going to have to go up against one of the two, Gibbs and Almondinger.

Yeah. And then that gets a little tougher for me at Sonoma. But I still feel pretty good about it because Bushers ran well there. This is fun. We need a little something right here in the dog days of summer that... Just extra. It's extra. Here's another.

A little side game. Here's another thing, Dale, is if SVG runs away with Chicago, you have all these matchups of drivers throughout the field that there's something to talk about, too. it is going to be fun. I hope NASCAR continues to do it. It's a million bucks, which is a lot of money. It's life-changing for a lot of drivers in the field. A guy like Denny Hamlin or somebody like that might not feel like it is a, you know,

it's still a cool prize, but, you know, for most of the drivers say they were going to divvy it up and stuff and give back and stuff. Well, look, for most of the drivers, it's a big deal. For sure. And it's been fun listening to some of them actually describe. crash. Yeah, actually talk about how much they're enjoying it. That's why I like Atlanta as the start for this actually. That's another question.

Like the tracks, I don't really give you know. And listen, the whole thing is only for enjoyment and entertainment. This is absolutely not anything that needs to be too serious. We don't need to worry about like, oh man, what tracks should be in it. Oh, this is a bad idea. Yes, everybody's bracket got blown to shit. Mine, too. I lost, I didn't, you know, I didn't get a lot of things right.

My guys, you know, my overall is still alive. That's really all that matters, I think, at this point. So I kind of like the fact that the bracket isn't, I mean, that the races are that unpredictable. Not easy. It's not easy. It should be easy. Just like the tournament in college, like the NCAA tournament. It's not easy.

Yeah. So there's upsets. And I think Atlanta's perfect for it because Atlanta gives the opportunity for upsets. Hey, it's Dale Jr. Did you know that we've got brand new merch from our Star Stripes and Beers Collection available now?

We've got tanks, teas, beach towels, and more just in time for summer. Check it all out at shop.dirtymomedia.com. All right, we got Chase Elliott here, the winner in Atlanta. Chase, awesome race. Great, you know, great finish, great energy, great excitement.

everybody seemed to really enjoy it. I want to ask you, you know, from the start of the green flag, I don't know what it was, man, but it looked like you were just taking every run. You could take, you put everybody three wide several times down the front straightaway. I wouldn't, I just, I don't know, man. I mean, I know you can't really do those kind of things at any of the racetrack, even Daytona and Talladega, and you're kind of restricted on how hard you can run at Daytona and Talladega. But what was the mindset going into that race?

because it looked like you were just on attack all night long. Yeah, I mean, I feel like I've tried to be that way. At more than just Atlanta, I think that, you know, the tough part is, and, you know, something that I definitely struggle with in this car is sometimes even at Daytona and Talladega, not taking the run is the smartest play that you can make. And I thought that that was the cool thing about it. Atlanta was, it wasn't a death sentence to go three wide bottom and it not work.

Like, okay, you know, I'll fall back in line here in a minute and I'll get another shot at it. And if it works, then great, you got two for one. But that's just not normally the case. Even at some of the mile and a halfs or two mile tracks that we go to, you know, it doesn't always work. It looks pretty and sexy when you go three wide bottom, you know, getting into one on a restart. But okay, guess what? nobody goes with you and now you've lost four rows and you look like an idiot you know so it's um i think probably more a product of just the way the racetrack was racing and the fact that you

you know you weren't signing yourself up for a death sentence if you know if if one of those big you know bold moves didn't totally go your way you seemed a bit surprised when you got out of the car that you were able to pull it off uh was there a moment i guess in the last five laps where you thought crap i'm not in the right spot oh for sure i mean eighth with eight with what seven to go or yeah or uh whatever it was i mean i was doing the math and it wasn't quite mathing at uh at that juncture and then and then also too i was looking around and and hell i don't think there was anybody in the top 15 that had won a race right um so i'm like boy this we're getting down you know, we're also not mathing there either. We're going to run out of spots. So, yeah, just

somehow, some way, you know, I think it was almost kind of a blessing just because you could not hold the lead. I mean, I don't care who you were. You could not hold the lead. I tried every which way I knew how to try to maintain and control lanes. And you might can do it, but I certainly couldn't figure it out. So I think just the runs timed up perfect, you know, got two for one there getting into one. And, you know, Alex gave me a couple great shoves, won by the 45, and then, you know, obviously won by Brad there getting into, you know, getting into one. And, yeah, fortunately, it was good enough.

What would the, what has the conversation with Alex been since the race is over? Yeah, you know, obviously. obviously I appreciate his respect in those situations and but honestly very normal. I feel like Alex and I have always shared a lot of respect on the racetrack and in moments where, you know, teammates become crucial, you know, whether, whether the shoes on the other foot or or if it's on my side. But yeah, I think as you know, as a racer, you, you log those things, you document those things and when people show you a sign of respect on the racetrack honestly no words need to be said i understand the positioning and um i recognize it appreciated and and intend to make sure i do my part

when the opportunity presents itself and it will um it will for sure i know that a lot of drivers yourself uh included um weren't going to have a second thought about the um the bracket challenge, especially going into a track like Atlanta. Now that you're through that track and you can look at Chicago, Sonoma, Dover, Indy and understand what style of racing you'll see there, how competitive you feel you might be, who you're up against, we're whittling this down quickly, and it's a million dollars sitting out there. At what point, I guess, will you start to go, hmm, I might like to win this.

that already happened? No, I would have liked my mindset of wanting to win was already there. You know, even going into the race last weekend, you know, and it's kind of one of those things where, at least my viewpoint on it is it's not that I didn't want to win it. It's just that it's not going to make me try any harder than I'm already trying. So I just want, I want that to be super clear. Like, I'm already doing everything I can do every week that, you know, in my power and then, you within my abilities to to perform my very best for my team that that's that's the whole reason i go so um you know i don't need i don't need another um you know factor to help make me want to perform that's just not how i am um but of course i want to win it yeah i mean a million dollars or

or not a million dollars you know i i still want to win it and um yeah i feel like we have a you know have a real shot to do that. And, you know, we're going to race hard over, I don't know how many more weeks are in that deal, but however many it takes, and hopefully we're, you know, the last one standing. Yeah, I think you're up against Nemechek this weekend. If you actually prevail, I believe you would face either Stenhouse or Eric Jones at Sonoma. So it's a reasonable path forward to be able to find yourself in the semis at Dover.

I think that, you know, you've had a really solid year this year. We've talked about that quite a bit in the past couple of weeks at the consistency, which is really you've done it better than anybody this year, and now you have the win. Do you feel like, I guess, that you guys are where you want to be? Are you feeling overlooked because of your consistent? see your average finish is better than anybody else. So, I mean, as far as performance across the board, you guys are at the top of the game.

But where do you feel like you are? Well, you know, number one, I don't necessarily care if we are overlooked or not. You know, we as a team and myself individually, man, we've just been doing this long enough to know, like, it all kind of of starts and ends with us, you know, and we, you know, we have to make sure we're doing our part and I'm doing my part and just bringing everything I can possibly bring every single week. And we know our strengths and we know our weaknesses. And it's the honest conversations that we have on Monday mornings that are either going to make us better or make us fail, right?

And, you know, I just think that our group is, we've been together a long time. We know each other really, really well. I think all of the, you know, all of the pieces of the puzzle are there from a team side. I think I can do it, you know. I just, I feel like we're working on the right things. I think I'm asking for the right things out of the car. And I think that the team's been doing a really good job of giving me what I'm, you know, what I'm looking for in a feel.

And so I'm proud of where we're at. I'm really proud of our team for just sticking together. I think there's been so many times that we could have thrown in the towel and really kind of fractured from the inside. And, you know, it's a really important thing for me to now have climbed that mountain and stood on top of it with AG. And we've kind of fallen off that hill. But getting back to the top with him and with our group and doing it,

together with the same people you've had success and failed with, I think is a really important thing to do in sports when it's easy to kind of look the other way, just not giving up on one another, I think is a really important piece. And we have so much respect for one another as a team that, you know, we're going to continue to make each other better as we push forward. Well, man, we appreciate your time today. Congratulations on the win. Going to be fun watching y'all go forward and try to carry this momentum that you got

going in the next several weeks. And yeah, we'll see it, Chicago. Yeah, man. Appreciate it. We'll see y'all. All right. Well, let's do some Ask Jr. Hey, everybody.

It's Dale Jr. here to Dale Jr. download another segment of Ask Jr. And I got my buddy, T.J. Majors here. And Andrew Travis is here as well. I don't know if he's going to talk. But Andrew usually does all the questions. But we'll see. We've got to let you know that Xfinity Wi-Fi is sponsoring this segment. of Asch Jr., as they do most every week's Xfinity Wi-Fi is actually what we're using right now

to send all this stuff your way so you can stay connected. It's booming. You'll hear the drivers talk about how Xfinity Wi-Fi is booming, especially in the Xfinity series of drivers. Love getting out of the car and talking about Xfinity Mobile, Xfinity Wi-Fi, and all of the great services that Xfinity provides. It's got the power and speed of NASCAR right in your home, You choose the right plan for you, and you're off to the races with the best streaming experience for all NASCAR fans and all of your favorite sports.

They don't just raise the bar. They stream an overdrive, and they're a proud premier partner NASCAR, and we're very thankful to have them here as part of the Dirtymo Media family. So thank you, Exfinity, for everything you do. Let's get to it. Yeah, absolutely. The YouTube chat is populating. It's good to see everybody. It's booming.

That's the word, TJ. Lots of familiar faces that's good to see. But let's go to this first question from Barry. Jerry, I'm going to mispronounce his name, Travis. Bruchheimer. He confirms that a Days of Thunder sequel is in the works. So what would you like the second movie to be about? I keep seeing little quotes and stuff of people like Tom Cruise, you know, doing a little

he had like a little post about days of thunder and his experience making that movie and Jeff Gordon's had a couple comments like hey if they ever do do it we'd love to be involved I think that is there a spotter roll can I can I be a spotter in it oh I like that probably I don't you can be in it you'll drive I'll spot like TJ we want we want people to watch it sorry I have face for radio, Andrew, is perfect. Well, I would absolutely, the more

of the original cast members, the better. And I'll say this. So this is very similar, I think, to like the Rocky series and the remakes for Rocky, right? But eventually Rocky is too old to fight. And then they had to shift to this creed, right?

that was difficult for me just as somebody who had watched all the originals and the whole thing you know one two three and four and all that um i would need tom cruise to still be racing yeah oh absolutely tom cruise not in a race car for the entire movie doesn't work for me right so he can't be an owner um now i think rowdy burns could be an owner I could see Rowdy Burns at this point in the storyline. He's aged out, no longer driving, and he's now maybe some owner in the sport. But I would bring back all the original cast members and have them at least make a brief appearance in the movie, if not have heavy roles. The Russ Wheeler character, even he, I would love it if he was. is still racing. I don't know really where he's at

what he looks like these days, but if he's taking good care of himself, I think you could pass him off as a veteran driver. But I feel like we're not, I feel like we're going to have to accept some younger cast members. No choice. Yeah, there's no choice.

There's going to be, there's going to be this young driver. Yes. No, there's a, you know, it's very similar to what we're seeing in the F1 movie where you had the old guard in the New Guard, right? Mm-hmm.

I just can't see any way around that. But that'll be a part, that'll be a part that either makes or breaks the movie, right? And so that star outside, the person that's probably the most important to the storyline outside of Tom Cruise, getting that cast correctly and having the right person in that role that's believable and truly will do the work that, like, Tom Cruise has done to understand NASCAR. So I've told the story before, but Tom Cruise came by Dillon Heart Incorporated back when it was just the deerhead shop. Dang, really? Yep.

They had the deerhead shop and one office, and there was nothing else there. This was way before Dad built DEI. So it's just a building with the Xfinity team in there. I was really young. And this was before they had ever started shooting. Days of Thunder. And so I have a shoot, man. I must have been 12 or so, pretty young.

Well, we're told. So Tom Cruise just finished risky business maybe. What's the movie where he's, where he slides across the floor? Yeah, that's it. Right? You're looking at what you're talking to over there. They're not going to know.

I know what it is. So that he was still like on the back end of the success. of that movie. And dad told Kelly and I that this actor, Tom Cruise, was coming by later in the afternoon to talk to dad. And so there were, it was dad and maybe Teresa and me and Kelly and the people that, the four or five employees that worked at the shop, Tony Sr., no, not a crowd, just a couple of us there.

Well, Tom drives up. he was with someone else they get out of the car they walk in Tom Cruise is not as tall as I expected him to be and he's not a saw as them cardboard cutouts either he's got a face he's got a face full of pimples and yeah and he and dad he's really young at this point

but he and dad go into dad's office and they talked for like an hour hour and a half long time and then they come out, shook hands, hey man, great time. I got to say hey to Tom Cruise and he leaves. And so Tom Cruise basically came by to sit down and talk to dad

because dad's character was Rowdy Burns. And they used a lot of the sort of, you know, the same vibe, I guess, of dad to do the, the Rowdy Burns character. And Dad even said after that conversation, that in the conversation with Tom Cruise, Tom mentioned that Dad should play the role. And Dad was like, you know, the way this sounds is he's the bad guy,

and I really don't want to be the villain. That's not my style. And Dad is not an actor. And that would have not been as good as what, the end result was, right? So I remember vividly, Dad, saying that they had had a conversation around the possibility of him actually playing the role, but I don't think that that is absolutely realistic, to be honest with you. You don't think he could have done it? No. And I don't think, I don't think, even if Tom had offered it to him or mentioned it in that conversation, that it

would have actually happened if Dad had said yes, because I think that the people that actually produce and direct and make all those decisions. would have had a problem with that because that's not an actor. But anyhow, Tom came there and just picked Dad's brain. Tom drove race cars, went to Daytona and drove a race car in a test with Paul Newman. And so Tom did all, as we know now, after hearing all the stories about Mission Impossibles and Top Guns. he does all the stunts, all the hard work, all the homework, right,

to truly make the movie great. That's why he's so good. Yeah. And like I'm confident that if they make Days of Thunder again, it'll be a great representation of really where the sport is and how it is, because he will do the homework to go, this is authentic. This moment is authentic. this set's authentic, this scene is authentic.

And yeah, so, like, when Tom Cruise played Cold Trickle, like, it was believable. He, to me, was any cup driver in the series in the 90s. Like, he was, he played that part so well. His style, his look, his... He did, yeah. The way he spoke, his attitude. What's so funny?

Someone in the church. chat said Tom Cruise to the J.R.M. Number 9 question mark. Oh, Jesus. Well, yeah. Anyhow. Those are, that was a cool deal, man, as a kid to see your favorite sport that you thought that no one cared about or liked.

Everybody at school thought NASCAR was stupid. All my friends, not my friends, but all the people that I was in school with didn't like NASCAR, thought it was dumb. Now they're making this big movie. Same here. I was like, hell, yes. And then they came out with the Nintendo game Days of Thunder.

It was sucky, but I still played the shit out of it. Man, that was a big deal. Would you, if asked, do a cameo in the Days of Thunder, too? No question. Yes, that's an automatic yes. I would damn sure be interested in doing that. And I think that's the way that anybody feels in the industry, right? if you're a current driver

you'd absolutely want an opportunity to be a part of that maybe you can be a driver in it and then I'll be the spotter and Tom will get into you and wreck you or something is just trying to find a way to get in the movie Yeah I want to be the spotter And then we talk about how you got wrecked by

Tom Cruise on the movie version of the Yeah there we can be in it too This movie if ever made If ever made Will And I'm putting myself, put my neck out there. But this movie, if ever made, we'll need at some

point in the movie, some broadcasting chops. You know, and so there'll be a lot of people eager to find out whether they're the ones that get called up for that. So, yeah, I don't know. I would do anything they asked me to do to try to support it and

For sure, make it authentic. Yeah. But because I feel like, yeah, because I feel like it's what you're supposed to do. Yeah. We got time for one more question. This one's from Lee. What was it like driving Dwight Howard around the track? Great.

What you didn't get to see, I guess, is Belique neighbors. Got to take him around too. He was a rookie last year. Yeah, he was a rookie last year for the Giants wide receiver. Great fan to Jaden Daniels, so kind of cool to be able to chat with him a little bit about his career and their friendship and what he's going to do this next season. Hopefully he doesn't beat the commanders.

But with, With, you know, with TNT, we're doing a lot of social content. So we're going to do some, I think we'll do five ride arounds over the next couple of weeks. And, yeah, so that's. You got lined up, can you tell? I don't know. We don't have the next several. We don't have the next ones lined up.

But that was the two they brought to Atlanta. So this is, so TNT and Bleacher Report are connected. they're the same. And so, like, a lot of the stuff we're going to work on will be on Bleacher Report. And that'll be, we just, I took those guys around the racetrack for about 15 minutes. We asked, I just kind of did a little interview, asked them a lot of questions, just being curious. And then we went about 130 for a lap and. Dang.

Had a good time. Yeah. That's cool. Was there anyone, like, that you've driven or given a ride around the track before that you were, like, nervous of like, oh, I want to make sure this is, like, a good experience for them? My wife, Amy. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that would make sense.

LaTart. Oh, yeah. I know you've talked about that one, but I know that was like very, like, meaningful for him just because he's like, he kind of like could understand what you're feeling behind the seat, right? Exactly. Yeah. Well, that's cool.

That is a good place to wrap up Ash Jr. this week. Thank you to Xfinity Wi-Fi in racing and in life. Speed isn't optional. It's expected as a driver in the Xfinity. series as a team owner in the Xfinity series. I rely on things to perform at their peak under pressure and that's why I go with Xfinity Wi-Fi, especially when we're doing live Ask Junior segments. We want our Wi-Fi to be fast and no disconnections. So it's dependable internet and yeah, no contracts, no slowdowns, no nonsense. Xfinity is a proud premier

partner of NASCAR. We're very thankful. So appreciate you. Xfinity and we'll see everybody tomorrow. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen. Place your bets. All right, that's a great Ask Jr. A lot of great questions there for Andrew. I was a little nervous when he went off

script and said, man, I'm just going to start reading the chat. I'm like, big freaking mistake. That makes me real nervous. Big freaking mistake, pal. And anyhow, ended up okay. Time for some dirty mode dough. We got Tampa Thames here. And also,

Russell, the professor. This segment of Dirty Modo is brought to you by Fanduil. Fan Duel's just straight up kick-ass. I like using Fanduel. Our manufacturer parlay didn't exactly go well. Damn it! We're not deterred, though. We're going to keep doing this.

I hope everybody's dim. If anybody is tailing these, just put some pennies down. Let's be careful until we figure this. out. Kyle Busch, Austin, Cedric, Bubba Wallace. They were nowhere to be found at the end of that race.

But it was Atlanta to be expected. Tim's, did you have a pretty good Saturday? I had a great Saturday. All right. Three and O matchups, had Chase to win. It was a good Saturday.

Damn, buddy. That's probably pretty rare for Atlanta. We're going to head into Chicago. It's a little more predictable, I think. Russ, who are the drivers in Tier 1 and Tier 2? Alex Bowman. Hey, Bowman is.

Here we go. Bowman's got a good matchup. Don't get him going. Let's go. Top of the board, SVG, then Bell, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott, and Stevie's favorite, Ty Gibbs. Yeah.

Ty Gibbs has been up front at Chicago. He's been running well at the road courses, ran good at Mexico City. I like Ty Gibbs for a top three, top five finish. He could possibly surprise us with a win. SVG is going to be tough, though, on the street course. Super tough.

And Christopher Bell is... SVG was driving a colleague car last year and got fenced. Am I, you know? And so, you know, we don't know how that would have played out, but I think colleague wasn't great last year. Colleagues better this year. That's not a knock on them, but I think he's in a better car this season as he was last year.

So let's look at some of these bracket matchups, shall we? All right, you got Keselowski and Dylan out of the gate. I don't think of Brad is a really great road course racer. TJ, how do you guys feel about it here lately? I mean, last year we were actually pretty quick at Chicago. It was one of our better. Are you fucking ready for Ty Dillon? Because Ty Dillon was up in the top ten at Mexico City all day.

I hope we can't. I hope we prevent another. Dylan knock your favorite driver out video. I think Travis and Denny Bros. are going to get their revenge on your ass. Ty Dillon is going to help Dittie Bros. Get some revenge on T.J. And so I think, I honestly feel like, you know,

you ought to be sweating this, man, because Ty Dillon ran good at Mexico City. T.J. I'm not. I mean, hey, you never know what's going to happen. You guaranteeing a victory. I just know that we had decent speed there last year. I'm going to hope that we go back.

Decent speed? A little bit more and run good. Yeah, like top five or six or whatever we ran. TJ's sounding like Denny Bros. on Twitter after an Atlanta race. I'm optimistic. I don't have you being top 10 speed at Chicago, just so you're... That's fine.

You also didn't have Alex Bowman winning or running good at Mexico City either, and he showed you wrong. Let's go with the priest and Gregson to me. I give Gregson's struggling on the road courses. I'm going to give it to Priest. Dude ran strong at Mexico City. That's a minus 150 to a plus 110. I think it's way, way bigger than that, Russell.

I agree. Pre-started on the outside front row at Mexico, one stage one. The only thing I'd say for Gregson is, you know, he did finish better than Priest once at Chicago. So he does that, he has outrun him here. Yeah. All right. Well, Bowman and Bubba, that's a pretty tight one.

there, but I definitely give Bowman the edge. Bowman's going to, you know, listen, Bowman won the race last year, but that was because they called it because of the darkness. His strategy, he had to come back to Pitt Road at some point to get fuel to be able to finish that race. Yeah, you know how I feel about this one. And they have a lot of history, too. Like, remember, this is where Bubba got in trouble here last year for slamming Bowman post race. Yep.

Yeah. All right. And Bowman also hooked Bubba. back at the Roval in 2019. So do you think Bubba beats him outright? No. Reddick versus Reddick versus Hostavar.

I think Reddick ran good at this race last year. I like Reddick on the road courses over Hostavar. Totally agree. Chase Selleat, Nemichick. I think Chase Saly goes out there and gets it done. Almondinger versus Gibbs. That's a tight one, but I got to give it to Gibbs. Gibbs has been really strong on the road course.

ran up front at Mexico City, ran up front here last year. He's ran up front at both the Chicago races and ended up driving himself back into a top three, I think, last year. So after that strategy was kind of working against him, he still had fast enough car to get himself a good result. I like it. And AJ's best finish at Chicago, 17th. Yeah, well, we've only got two races to go by.

I mean, you could say those are coincidental, but yeah, I think colleagues better this year. He'll be up in the top 10, but I think Gibbs best to send by a couple of positions. If it all just went perfectly for both guys, I think Gibbs has the other hand. Jones versus Stenhouse is an interesting one. They're both at minus 115. Man, this is a close match up here. Do you think that, you know, the improvements by, by the club legacy motor club.

Do you think their improvements this year are enough to give Jones the edge? I do. I think Eric's driving with a little extra right now as well. He's been pretty decent the last few races, and I'm giving the edge to Eric. You've got to factor in the 50% probability

that Josevar Rex Stenhouse again. Yeah, yeah. There is that. There is that. Jones has finished better than Stenhouse the last five races, too. There you go. All right, Busher versus Smith. I got my man, Busher moving on through.

I mean, he's going to win it all, so obviously he does move it on through. That's right. That's right, TJ. What a car. That's right. Eat my sin of dust. All right. Well, I like those matchups.

What you got? Tim's, what matchups do you have your eyes on? I'll be honest. I do love Eric Jones over Ricky Stenhouse. I think he should be a little bit, he should be the favorite. It just shouldn't be a coin flip, to be honest. Based off Mexico City as well, he ran. He was a top 15, I feel like all day. And then for the to bet, SVG obviously a heavy favorite. How do you weigh betting someone like that when it's such a heavy favor? Man, he dominated by like what, 16 seconds. It's tough to, as long as you get a plus sign next to it, I feel like you're in good shape. You got, stop with this stuff. Mexico City. was a new venue for a lot of these guys.

Every time we go to a new venue, it's road course. He's going to be way out in front. Do you think he's going to go to Sonoman win by 16 seconds? I mean, do you really think he's going to? He could. I mean, yeah. No, he can't. He was going to win last year before he got caught up in that wreck.

By 16 seconds? I know about 16 seconds, but I mean... You start going to these tracks that we've been to a few times now. Our drivers are really better than what you think. We go to a new venue. The first year, everything worked out perfect with the rain and all that street core, single file restarts. Everything was great for him.

But you go to these other tracks. I mean, he looks human at these other tracks. We've been to. Chicago, I don't know. I don't think we're there yet at Chicago. I don't know. We're closer, but we won't be. He's definitely the favorite, in my opinion, but he's not going to win by 16 seconds.

So he doesn't have to win by 16 seconds over that bet to cash. Thanks. Thanks. Good point. Really, I didn't know that. I still think a plus sign next to his name. You bet him. Is there another driver, drivers that you might?

I like Ty Gibbs. He's been consistent here the last two years. Ty has adapted really well at the road core stuff. He's done, I think he came into this new car at the perfect time, and he didn't know the old car, so he doesn't know all the old traits. Yeah. Right? So everything Ty knows is with his new car, and I think it just helps him at these places like that quite a bit.

He's done great. Let's get into our manufacturer parlay already. I think we should take SVG into Chevrolet, Gibbs, Absolutely. What's the Ford? Russell, I want you to help us on the Ford. I really just want you to outright pick the Ford. Senator Duss.

Busher. All right. Senator Dust. All right. It's SVG, Ty Gibbs, Chris Busher for the manufacturer parlay this week. And that'll be it, man. This 30 Modo segment was brought to you by Fan Duel, the premier gaming destination in the United States.

Thank you, Russell. Thank you, Tim. White Lake. All right, it's time for the white flag. The teardown was live on YouTube and Twitter following the race. Great feedback and conversation around what Jeff Gluck and George Mianchi thought of the event. And Action is Detrimandal dropped on Monday. The race didn't go well for the Denny Bros.

But still, he comes in every week, even when things are tough, and delivers a great breakdown of all the difficult moments that he faced in the race. so very gutsy, gutsy performance and professional performance on actions detrimental by Denny Hamlin. Doorbubber Clear also came out on Monday. Ryan Blaney was the guest, and every time Ryan Blaney's on, we have a great show. You won't want to miss that. My guest interview this week is with my good friend Josh Schneider. Josh is a pal of mine for years, and we'll have a lot of fun kind of looking back over some of the things we got ourselves involved in.

and on Thursday, another episode of Bless Your Heart with Amy. And on Sunday, the fifth episode of Becoming Earnhardt is released, focusing on the 1980 season. Those have been awesome and loving the feedback from everybody who's been enjoying the new series, the 1980 season of Becoming Earnhardt. So that's it. That's the show. I hope you guys enjoyed it.

We'll see you tomorrow.